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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Sep 28.
Published in final edited form as: Sci Transl Med. 2012 Mar 28;4(127):127rv4. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3003218

Table 2.

Medical interventions proven to prevent cancer. RCT, randomized controlled trial.

Intervention Target Magnitude of
reduction		 Period of time
(years)		 Evidence
Aspirin Total cancer mortality 20% 20 Follow-up of eight RCTs (14)
Aspirin Colon cancer mortality 40% 20 Five RCTs (6) and RCT in
   Lynch syndrome (11)
SERMs (tamoxifen, raloxifene) Breast cancer incidence 40–50% 5+ RCT (5, 69)
Salpingo-oophorectomy Familial breast cancer 50% 3+ Synthesis of observational data (34)
Screening for colon cancer
   (sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy)		 Colon cancer mortality Sigmoidoscopy,
30–40%		 10 UK RCT sigmoidoscopy (33)
Colonoscopy, 50% Observational data and disease
   modeling (70, 71)
Vaccines (HPV and hepatitis) Cervical cancer incidence 50–100% 20+ Modeling vaccination rates
   and persistence of
   protection (23)
Liver cancer incidence 70–100% Observational follow-up data from
   universal population vaccination
   program at birth (22, 72)
Mammography Breast cancer mortality 30% 10–20 RCT and modeling (73, 74)
Spiral computed tomography
   for lung cancer		 Lung cancer mortality 20% 6+ RCT (75)